Cafe 21- Neighborhood eats

Strawberry Salad

Café 21 located on Adams Avenue in the San Diego neighborhood of Normal Heights is a culinary treasure. This quaint family-owned restaurant makes everything from scratch and the food is presented like you were eating in a fancy restaurant but in a diner-style atmosphere. This place is cozy enough for a  date for two yet spacious enough for a dinner party of 8.  The food served there is a fusion of Mediterranean, European and gourmet American. I enjoyed everything that was ordered. We had the Apricot Cristo Crepes, Strawberry Salad and Meat Kabob Platter. The Meat Kabob platter alone consisted of Lamb chops, turkey-beef kabobs, chicken skewers, with cranberry cinnamon rice pilaf, some pickled vegetables, hummus and pita bread and a side of this divine pomegranate cherry red wine sauce easily fed our table of 4 and we ordered the portion that feeds 2.

Our waiter Jason was a delight and was pretty humorous. He had explained the origin of the café and how the catering business morphed into a restaurant (They still do catering). I had invited a few close friends – Sukhjit, Richie, Butch, Jen. We stayed a few hours chatting and eating, and we did not at all feel rushed.  In retrospect, the whole evening was filled with interesting conversation and fun. Lively music filled the café as the night drew to a close. This place also serves a breakfast and lunch, we got to browse the menu and were all impressed by the variety offered. The menu item that struck us the most unique was the Pound Cake Fries served with the housemade chocolate strawberry dip on the Breakfast menu. Of course, a brunch date is up for planning in our near future.  Thanks Café 21 for your hospitality that night.

Cafe 21 is located on 2736 Adams Ave., their phone number is (619) 640-2121.

Housemade Sangria

*Our housemade Sangrias was not on the house but the food was.